Vail Yeti ready to get Dobson rocking in Friday’s home hockey opener
In final season before Dobson remodel, team will play nearly all of its games in Vail
Madison Rahhal/Courtesy photo
For the Vail Yeti’s last season at Dobson as we know it, team owner Kyle Forte has negotiated an impressive schedule in which 21 of the team’s 24 games will be at home.
The first two games will be Friday and Saturday starting at 7:45 p.m.
Forte is now going into his third year as the owner of the Yeti and says he has been successful at bringing so many home games to town by building off of the impressive atmosphere the team has created in its 11 years of existence.
“I think so many teams want to come play in Vail due to the production value of what we bring,” Forte said. “The music, the food, the high level of play, it all combines to create this great atmosphere that people want to come and be a part of.”
Forte said DJ Krusher Jones will be returning with the music this year and Chef John Zavoral will be bringing his signature cheese steaks and other gourmet foods to the venue once again. Forte said the fact that families can come and have dinner at the event, with free entry for kids, makes the Yeti games a big draw for families.
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For the adults, the venue will offer $5 beers, as well.
Grand finale
It will be the last season at Dobson as we know it as the town of Vail plans to embark on a $55 million remodel of the ice arena starting at the end of this season. The town expects to take one season off and have the remodel completed in time for the Yeti to return in the winter of 2026-27 with an even better offering. In the meantime, the team is expected to move to Eagle for home games.
The Yeti will face several teams it has not competed against before for this final season at “Old Dobson,” Forte said, with exciting events planned like a multimedia matchup versus the Empty Netters, which is both a hockey team and a podcast. That event will be Jan 10-11 at Dobson.
This weekend’s matchup will be against the Jackson Hole Moose, a team the Yeti had never beat at their home venue in Wyoming, until this season.
The Yeti started their season off strong by beating the Moose for the first time ever in Jackson Hole on back-to-back nights, Nov. 15-16. Forte says he expects the Moose will want revenge this weekend in Vail, which should make for an exciting two nights of competition.
Dec. 13-14 at Dobson, the Yeti will play the Castle Island Hockey Club out of Boston, one of the team’s toughest matchups of the season. Castle Island Hockey boasts a deep field of competitors from the Boston metropolitan area, unlike ski resort-area teams, which draw from small mountain towns.
Forte said many Castle Island players are former pros who have played in the American League and the NHL.
The Yeti will then break for the holidays before returning on Jan. 3-4 against the CU alumni squad, another difficult team.
Chucking more pucks this year
A portion of the Yeti’s profits on the season will go toward local charities, with the first game benefitting one of the groups that does the most to help locals with the biggest barrier to making it in Eagle County — finding housing. Forte says the housing picture in the Vail area has been the most difficult part of recruiting new players, which is why he’s especially encouraged to donate a portion of the Yeti’s profits this weekend to Habitat for Humanity Vail Valley.
The Steadman Clinic has also stepped up to bolster the popular “Chuck a puck” program, in which fans can purchase foam pucks and throw them onto the ice in between periods. While the Chuck a Puck has had only 600 pucks for sale in previous games, this year 1,000 are available.
“They were selling out every game before the game even begins, so that was a much-needed donation that we’re very thankful to the Steadman Clinic for helping out with,” Forte said.
Yeti tickets are $15 if purchased in advance and $20 at the door. Games often sell out and a long line usually forms for those waiting to enter the arena, so getting there early and purchasing tickets in advance is always recommended. A limited number of season ticket packages were still available for $200 as of press time, as well, although those were selling out fast, Forte said.
Visit VailYetiHockey.com to purchase tickets or view this year’s schedule.
